What is the mating season in animals called? Features of the behavior of animals during the mating season
Have you ever wondered what strange mating rituals animals have? In the animal kingdom, reproduction is not always a straightforward process. In fact, it can be quite complex and controversial. For many, this process involves an elaborate scheme of finding a mate and then luring her into copulation. And the competition is insane here. To get what they want, many males must fight other males, sometimes quite violently, in order to get their soul mate as a reward. However, there are other cases where the mating rituals of animals are just as romantic as those of humans. One thing's for sure: it's strange world where millions of animals compete to pass on their DNA to the next generation. Here are 25 weird animal mating rituals.
25. Banana Slugs
These slimy, yellow creatures are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive organs, and both partners exchange sperm. When they mate, they attack each other like snakes and may even bite each other. It takes them several hours to get into position and even more time to finish mating. Sometimes they can get stuck stuck to each other. If they fail to separate, they will take turns biting off their genitals, turning exclusively into females.
24. Honey bees
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These buzzing insects have one queen that only mates once in her entire life. During her solitary mating ritual, she flies to open space, where the drone will overtake the queen in the air and insert its endophallus into her. After that, more male honey bees sit on the queen. When the male honeybee finishes mating, its endophallus breaks off from the body, and, as a rule, its stomach is torn as a result - the male dies. If the male honey bee somehow survives the mating ritual, he will be expelled from the nest because he has fulfilled his mission.
23. Brown marsupial mice 
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Originally from Australia, the male rodent practically commits suicide during mating. After preparing to mate, he desperately tries to mate with every female he can for a 3-4 week period. Mating itself can last up to 14 hours. The male becomes so exhausted during this process that his coat falls out, internal bleeding occurs, and his immune system shuts down. When it's over, he and all the other males die.
22. Bonobo 
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Closely related to humans, these primates are known to be quite promiscuous, copulate with multiple partners, and view mating as a pleasurable activity, separating it from reproduction. Also, unlike many other animals, Bonobos prefer to copulate face to face.
21. Flatworms 
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Like banana snails, these wriggling sea creatures are hermaphrodites, but during mating they must choose who will be male and who will be female. How do they make this choice? There is a real competition between them when they try to pierce the enemy first. This process can take up to an hour.
20. Giraffes
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These vegetarians long necks begin the marriage ritual with the so-called "flehmen sequence". This is the process where the male rubs against the rear of the female until she urinates. The male then tries the urine to see if it's ready. If so, he will pursue her until he mates with her, using his neck to hold onto the female. In some cases, males also copulate with each other.
19. Snails
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These mollusks find each other with the help of smell and touch. Like some of the other creatures on this list, they are hermaphrodites. Once they find a mate, they use their "love arrows" to increase the chance of successful reproduction. These arrows can be quite dangerous if they are injected in the wrong place, for example, in a vital organ, which will kill the partner.
18. Fishing spiders 
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These long-legged arachnids give gifts. Having found a female, before mating, the male will give her a carcass wrapped in silk as a gift. Scientists believe that this is not a way to persuade the female, but a way not to be eaten.
17. Prairie vole
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Unlike the habits of many other animals, these small rodents prefer monogamy. Scientists have found that when prairie voles mate once, a gene is turned on in their brain that forces them to mate only with that partner for the rest of their lives, as well as share common space, build nests and act as parents.
16. Cichlid fish
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These fish have a rigid hierarchy and only the alpha male can mate. Other males roam the alpha male's territory, feeding on whatever they find, and have reproductive systems so suppressed that they almost look like females. When an alpha male dies, another male can take his place, quickly rebooting his reproductive system. The male builds and, shaking his tail, lures the female into it. She lays eggs in the nest, and he fertilizes them.
15. Red-sided garter snake 
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In Narcissus, Manitoba, these crawling reptiles emerge from their lair every year to mate in one giant orgy. The males crawl out first, waiting for the females. When a large female approaches, the males weave into a giant ball, where there can be up to a hundred males.
14 Spotted Hyena 
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These laughing African animals have a rigid hierarchy, where females are the leaders of the pack and are very aggressive. More unusually, females have an elongated clitoris with which they urinate, copulate, and give birth.
13. Birds of Paradise
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These magnificent New Guinean birds are unique in their own way, and are distinguished by an amazing combination of colors on their feathers. An even more amazing sight is the mating dance of males. To attract a female, they jump, shake, freeze and make sounds.
12. Bed bugs
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These pesky insects boast a rather brutal and frightening way of reproduction. The male mates with the female through "traumatic insemination" by piercing the female with his subcutaneous genitalia.
11. Hippos 
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These hungry and dangerous African mammals have a rather dirty and foul-smelling way of attracting a mate. They first urinate and defecate, then twist their tail to spread the scent. This attracts a partner, and he is for mating. During the prelude, the animals splash in the water. And then they mate.
10. Bluegill sunflowers 
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The males of these fish have three ways to mate with the female. The first is to become big and strong, protecting her nest, where the female will come to spawn. Also, a male may swim undetected into another male's nest, following a female of similar shape and size to fertilize the eggs. There is a third option - to swoop in at the moment when the enemy mates with the female and add your sperm to the mixture. However, the last word remains with the male who owns the territory, because he can smell the eggs fertilized by him from the eggs of another male, and will eat someone else's.
9 Emperor Penguins 
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These Arctic wading birds begin to mate in March and April. They are alternately monogamous, choosing one partner per year. As soon as the female lays the egg, the male sits down to incubate it, and the female leaves to look for food. As soon as the chick hatches from the egg, the male feeds the chick with milk matter from his esophagus. When the female returns, the male leaves to look for food, and they eventually take care of the chick together.
8. Barbecues
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These strange winged creatures from New Guinea and Australia go to great lengths to attract a mate. Each type of bower, from the Great Bower to the Satin Bower, boasts its own colorful way of making it. Usually, this includes displaying colored objects, plastic toys, and dancing, all to impress the female.
7 Earwigs
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These omnivorous creatures with giant ticks on their tails are mainly night image life and exhibit only a few species social behavior including mating. To find a female, they must feel the pheromones she secretes in her feces. Males fight for the opportunity to mate with a female, and success usually depends on body size and ticks.
6. Sage grouse
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To attract a female, the Sage grouse performs an amazing dance that you should see. Coming on special place, which is called "current", males sway, fluff their feathers, while females gather around to see the "goods face".
5. Dolphins 
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To attract a female, male dolphins do a variety of things, some of which are pleasant and others that are not. To impress the female, they will sing, bring her gifts, or perform crazy acrobatic stunts. However, males have also been known to form "gangs" to kidnap a female from her pack and force her to mate. After mating, males leave the female to look for a new partner, leaving her to raise offspring on her own.
4 Porcupine 
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With long, sharp quills all over their bodies, it might seem like porcupines have no chance of mating, but they have solved that problem. Around September, the female porcupine secretes mucus and urine to attract males, letting them know she is ready to copulate. However, once the first male appears, she will not ovulate yet. He will have to wait until the rest of the males gather. A fierce fight ensues between them, and the bloodied winner receives his trophy. When the female is ready, she raises her tail over her back so as not to prick the male. She also folds her needles along her body to keep him safe.
3. Orange amphiprions 
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Those little Nemos are spawning all year round, and perform various dance rituals such as standing on their heads, touching the abdominal surface, and bending their backs to each other. What is strange about these fish is that they always start as males and change their behavior to females when there are no females around.
2 Whiptail Lizards
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This is a rare breed of lizard. They dont have mating games and they are all females. Apparently they breed asexual reproduction. So, their mating ritual is a party for one.
1. Khokhlach seal 
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In an attempt to show their masculinity, male seals blow on their heads similar to balloon membrane. A pink ball emerges from the nostrils and descends onto the head. When two males fight over a female, the battle ends when a seal with a large pink ball scares the other.
Let's turn to mammals. Here are typical examples. During mating courtship, a hare can hit a hare on the nose, tear out a tuft of his hair with her teeth if he tries to start mating when she is not disposed to do so. Male European hamsters, being much stronger and larger than females, often die in captivity from their bites. They are unable to resist the aggressiveness of females, because they have a highly developed "chivalrous" instinct. The males of many dogs and related species - wolves and jackals - are also disarmed by the "knightly" instinct. Dog lovers know this very well. Let's give the floor to K. Lorenz: "There is one extremely cute trait in the behavior of dogs, which was clearly fixed early in their central nervous system as a property that is inherited. I mean chivalrous treatment of females and puppies. No normal male will under any circumstances bite a female; the bitch is guarded by an absolute taboo, and she can behave with the male as she wishes and bite him, and even seriously. At the disposal of the dog there are no means of protection, except for respectful movements and a "gallant mine", with which he can try to turn the attacks of an angry bitch into a game. Male pride does not allow him to resort to another method - to a fight, because. males always make every effort to "save face" in the presence of a female.
In wolves and predominantly wolf-blooded Greenlandic sled dogs, this chivalrous self-control extends to the females only of their own pack, but in jackal-dominated dogs it operates in the presence of any female, even a completely unfamiliar one. The chow-chow male occupies an intermediate position: if he is always in the company of his relatives, he can treat a bitch of jackal blood quite rudely, although I do not know of a case that he bit her for real. bitch attacks "he can neither bite nor even growl, however, approach aggressive female he is driven by an incomparably stronger impulse, and the conflict between manhood, fear of the opponent's sharp teeth, and the strength of his sexual urges gives rise to behavior that sometimes turns into a real parody of the human. What makes the old dog funny is chiefly the playfulness, the "chivalry" which I have described above. When such an animal, long past its puppyhood, begins to declare its love, rhythmically moving its front paws and jumping back and forth, even the least anthropomorphic observer involuntarily begins to make certain comparisons, which is facilitated by the behavior of the bitch, who, knowing that her the boyfriend endures everything, behaves very arrogantly. "It is remarkably well said, isn't it? And what is especially interesting is that a striking analogy with human behavior is noted ... We will give another small passage from the same source describing the phenomenon of inciting in dogs And here K. Lorenz notes a great similarity with human behavior: "Females present at the meeting of males, equal in strength and rank, behave in a special way. Susie, Wolf's wife, clearly wants a fight to start; she does not actively help her husband, but she likes to watch him take over another dog. She twice resorted to insidious cunning to achieve her goal. The wolf stood head to tail next to the stranger dog. Susie hovered around them cautiously but with great curiosity, but they did not pay any attention to her, since she was a bitch. Suddenly, she silently but vigorously bit her husband on the back, exposed to the enemy. The wolf, believing that, in violation of all the ancient canine customs, brazenly bit him on the back while sniffing, immediately pounced on the blasphemer. The second dog naturally regarded this attack as an equally unforgivable violation of the ritual, and an extremely ferocious fight ensued.
Such examples from the life of dogs, in connection with the conspicuous analogy with man, could take us far. Especially if you take into account the authority of the famous ethologist who leads them. But the author of this modest work has other examples of dog behavior that he drew from his own observations. I had an intelligent dog named Jerry, a breed very similar to a collie, with a white chest, but with dark spotted coat coloring and a not so long and narrow muzzle. In clarifying the relationship between males, he occupied a dominant position - many large males of German Shepherds, Dobermans, Rottweilers, and even Bull Terriers and Caucasian Shepherd Dogs were inferior to him. He took by force of character. But in the competition for females, he preferred to succumb to many of those rivals whom he brought down on his back in other situations. Jerry just stepped back proudly without getting into a fight. It seemed that he despised these games and felt superior to his fellows. The bitches couldn't drag him into conflict. In a free situation, he willingly looked after bitches and was quite successful. And the "chivalrous" attitude towards them was inherent in him no less than the rest of the males. Perhaps I did not know another such proud and smart dog. I want to say that K. Lorenz's example of incitement and my modest example are opposite to each other, and this is their value - in opposition.
We need to note a couple more features of the mating behavior of highly organized animals, which were not covered by examples. Let us briefly touch upon the phenomenon of rapid mating observed in some birds (sparrows, gulls) and mammals (dogs, primates). Its essence lies in the fact that the female, after mating with her male, suddenly allows other males, previously rejected, to mate with her. This orgy-like phenomenon is observed even in those species where the males are very jealous, trying to prevent "treason" and subsequently can kill not their cub. The phenomenon of rapid mating has not yet found a convincing explanation. If quick mating is actually played out in front of the spouse, then the usual "betrayals" of partners to each other occur "on the side." Although the male gender tends to be more active in this matter, the female gender does not remain in debt either. And as a result, the females of many "socially monogamous" species (living in constant pairs) give birth to offspring from different fathers. This turns out to be more beneficial in terms of genetic diversity. The second phenomenon worthy of mention is the promotional mating. It is seen in birds of prey and non-human primates that have developed group marriage. The female keeps the male for her own purposes and stimulates him to get food, capture the territory, rewarding him with permission to mate with her. At the same time, a direct relationship is observed: the more the male pleases the female, the more she pleases him with "access to the body." In fact, it can be called animal prostitution.
All the features of mating behavior and sexual selection listed above are controlled by the basic instincts that ensure the vital activity of individual individuals and intraspecific balance. These instincts are biologically expedient, for example: there is no doubt about the expediency of sexual desire, which ensures reproduction; Aggression is expedient, which allows maintaining the high viability of the species. But there are trends that clearly lead to a dead end. One-way sexual selection, when the female prefers an aggressive male, which is facilitated by the phenomenon of inciting males, leads to a gradual increase in the aggressiveness of the species, and this is not the best adaptation for existence and does not contribute to development in the good sense of the word. As K. Lorenz notes: "This possibility should worry us, because - as we will see later - similar considerations apply to evolutionary development instinct of aggression in man.
So, most of the well-known examples illustrate sexual asymmetry and confirm the thesis that in marital relations, males are subjected to great dangers than women's. And these dangers come from rival males and desired females. Of course, this fact should not be exaggerated. For the more highly developed the species, the more inclined it is to take care of the offspring, the more tangible is the following trend: completely worthless males remain absolutely without females. But this is only on average and depending on the specific living conditions of a given species and the established hierarchy of relationships. Under adverse conditions, for example, with a lack of food, with crowding in a small area, or under the influence of other stress factors, the hierarchy can become tougher, males can more aggressively suppress rivals, and in some species of animals, males are even able to show aggressiveness and cruelty to the female and cubs. There are known facts when the males of the kenar kill their female, destroy the nest and break the masonry; a male kangaroo in a state of sexual arousal can kill a female and cubs; the male camel during the estrus period of the female bites everyone, including her; male brown bear can break the female and her cubs (this fact is mentioned in the famous story by G.A. Fedoseev " Evil spirit Yambuya"). These cases can be attributed to violations of marital behavior caused by adverse circumstances.
There is also such a phenomenon as the aggressiveness of adult males to cubs, especially strangers. We have already briefly mentioned that in some species of highly organized animals (even among primates), the male can kill someone else's cub. At African lions it's even a law. And females of many species other than lions try to protect their cubs or develop behaviors that mislead males about true paternity.
MALE AND FEMALE. DANGERS OF MARRIAGE. V.Yu.Skosar, Dnepropetrovsk
Marriage rituals are an integral part of the life of any living being. Just as there are a huge number of living organisms on the planet, there are so many marriage rituals. Some of them are quite cute and lovely, others are interesting and amazing, but there are some that we often call very, very strange. Today we want to bring to your attention the strangest mating rituals in animals.
Rose-Ange Jean
The list of the strangest marriage rituals is opened by small, Poisonous snakes from Canada and the US Northwest ‒ garters . Their very unusual mating takes place in a huge orgy. Hundreds of snakes gather in a large den, in which one female can have up to 100 males. Thus, the female receives the right amount of warmth and protection during fertilization.
In addition to the fact that male octopuses are from the genus Argonauts much smaller than females (males up to 2 cm, females up to 10 cm), they can mate only once in their short life. Males use a special tentacle, the hectocotylus, to transfer sperm to the female. For fertilization, the hectocotylus is inserted into the mantle cavity of the female and then separated from the octopus.
A very strange mating ritual among lizards whiptails , which are all females. Their mating method is called parthenogenesis. Each whiptail lizard has an ovarian cycle of 21 to 28 days. During the mating season, they synchronize their cycles so that they are opposite. One of the lizards will act as a male and the other as a female. Then they switch roles. The result of this mating method is an ideal offspring that is an exact clone of its mother.
anglers have one of the strangest and most unique methods of fertilization. When a male is born who does not have digestive system, he needs to find a female very quickly. When he finds a suitable female, he bites her, and a special enzyme melts her skin, making a suitable indentation for the male. After that, the male becomes just an appendage for the female, which stores a constant supply of sperm for fertilization at the right time.
ruslou shorts
An equally strange marriage ritual takes place in giraffe . The male identifies his female by the taste of her urine. The male giraffe pushes the female with his head under the tail, provoking her to urinate. After that, he determines if she is ready for fertilization by the enzymes in her urine. If the female suits him, then he will pursue her everywhere until he gets what he wants and will also protect her from other males. Well, the female, in turn, can also choose a more suitable candidate.
Ryan Merrill
porcupine porcupine thinks about sex only for 8-12 hours a year. An interested male stands on its hind legs and sprays urine on the female. If she is ready, then with her whole appearance she will show that the male gets down to business. If the female is not ready, or not interested in a given male, she will make a screaming sound and shake the male's urine.
Franco Folini
banana slugs have penises almost as long as their body length, which sometimes reaches 30 centimeters. Their Latin name "dolichyphallus" even translates to "giant penis". They are all hermaphrodites and when it comes time to mate, banana slugs join at opposite ends, trying to fertilize each other. It is very important to find a partner with the same or comparable penis size, because if the penis does not fit perfectly, it can get stuck in the partner. In this case, another slug simply gnaws it off.
Paul Rowbotham
male bee , who has the only mission in life - mating with the queen, takes his job damn seriously. So much so that in the process of mating, he leaves his penis inside the female. During the mating ritual, the female queen flies out in search of a suitable mate. Huge numbers of males swarm around the queen, vying for her attention. After intercourse, the endophallus (penis) of the male remains inside the queen to stop other males from mating attempts. After that, the male falls to the ground and waits for his death.
Will Burrard-Lucas
If you still think hippos charming, despite their ferocious reputation, you should definitely learn about their strange marriage ritual. Due to fierce competition, male hippos have developed a hideous, but apparently effective method get the attention of your women. When a male positions himself in terms of a potential female partner, he proceeds to defecate and urinate at the same time. As it does this, it rapidly spins its tail like a propeller, throwing its special mixture far and wide to mark its territory. Once the aromatherapy sprays have caught the eyes of the female (and sometimes it turns out that the male sprays the female herself), the hippos get down to business.
Francisco Valdes
White-fronted parrots or white-fronted Amazons start their mating season around February and finish at the end of June or July. Although, this varies by region. In some places, their mating season doesn't even begin until November. After choosing a suitable partner, the two parrots start kissing each other. These are very long and passionate kisses, during which parrots fix their beaks and use their tongues, which makes these birds one of the few animals that can kiss like humans. Everything would be very nice if, during the kiss, the male did not lower the secret ingredient into the partner's mouth - his vomit.
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Relations during the mating season between the sexes in the animal kingdom deserve special attention. Most of all, of course, animals during this period are driven by instincts. However, not everything is as primitive as it seems - if you carefully study their behavior at this time, you can notice elements of psychology and even some share of romance. Our smaller brothers, of course, tend to show much more aggression, especially in wild environment, however, they still have manifestations of care and even affection. The proof of this is the struggle for the favor and attention of the opposite sex. One of the interesting elements of the mating season is the serenade. Males can sing love songs for their females to attract their attention. So, a whale's mating serenade can last more than a day, and gibbons are famous for singing songs very loudly for their chosen ones. Coloring also plays an important role in attracting the opposite sex. Many animals with already bright colors become much more colorful and brighter during this period. Also, in the organisms of many animals during mating games, pheromones and various smells are released, which draws attention to them and makes them attractive in the eyes of the object of affection. The period of courtship is not complete without tactile interaction.
Animals try to touch their chosen ones, thus expressing their sympathy. Seals, for example, during this period they can lie together on the shore for a long time, gently touching their heads and shaking their cheeks, and elephants intertwine their trunks and pinch their partner. During courtship, animals are not averse to presenting some kind of gift to the female they like. For example, penguins give their ladies feathers. It is also considered a beautiful gesture to leave the largest and most delicious piece of food. Violent fights for the lady of the heart are frequent in the animal world. Hippos, for example, can die in such a fight. It even happens that the male winner eats the loser! In general, the struggle during this period is serious. Below are examples of the most interesting and bizarre marriage rituals.
camels
To attract a female, a camel secretes a large number of saliva. It takes the form of white foam and flows down the muzzle of the animal. In addition, the camel blows bubbles, believing that in this way he most favorably appears before the eyes of his lady. And he is right - the female likes this kind of courtship.praying mantises
There is no smell of romance here - female praying mantises are known for tearing off their partner's head during mating. However, this happens only in one of three cases when the female is especially strongly annoyed. However, every male is always at risk of death.grains
The genital organ of this beetle is covered with sharp spikes, therefore, during intercourse, the female is injured.hippos
In order to show his preference for one or another female, the male empties his bladder in the river, not far from the place where she is, and then splashes the water with sharp movements.Frigates
These exotic birds during the mating season inflate their throat pouch, which reaches 25 centimeters in diameter. The frigate complements its marriage ceremony with frequent flapping of wings, as well as singing. If the female is favorable to the gentleman, she touches his throat bag.
